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SEPTA apologizes for failing to meet parade demand

Faced with an onslaught of criticism, SEPTA officials stepped up efforts yesterday to explain the agency's performance Friday, when the transit system was overwhelmed by riders attending the Phillies victory parade.

Faced with an onslaught of criticism, SEPTA officials stepped up efforts yesterday to explain the agency's performance Friday, when the transit system was overwhelmed by riders attending the Phillies victory parade.

In letters to the editor and fliers placed on the seats of Regional Rail cars, SEPTA general manager Joseph M. Casey expressed regret for the service disruptions brought on by the "huge increases" in ridership.

"It just wasn't possible to make the service work any other way and keep riders safe," Casey said in the flier.

Rail service was delayed for hours on Friday, and frustrated riders stood by while inbound trains overloaded with passengers sped by stations. Southbound service on the Broad Street subway was also halted out of concern that the crush of passengers would overwhelm the stations.

Richard Maloney, the agency spokesman, said that yesterday's messages were directed largely to SEPTA's 135,000 regular rail commuters, who were suddenly joined by 215,000 additional riders on a system already at capacity. "I feel sorry for the people who were going to work that day amidst this sea of humanity trying to get to the parade," he said.

Maloney said the most vocal critics were occasional riders who had been encouraged to take public transportation to the victory parade and were disappointed.

Some families canceled plans to attend the parade after waiting for packed trains to stop at their stations. "That's like canceling Christmas," Maloney said. "I can imagine there's a lot of parents out there who are just furious. I understand that. Our message to them is to try to explain - we're not making excuses, but we did the most we could have done with what we had."

SEPTA was unable to borrow railcars from other transit agencies because all other agencies are operating near capacity, he said. "Nobody has any spare equipment."

Rider advocates say SEPTA could have done a better job of communicating its capacity constraints to the public before the parade and while the fiasco was unfolding, said Lance Haver, the city's consumer advocate.

"They should have provided more information to riders waiting on platforms," Haver said.

Matthew Mitchell of the Delaware Valley Association of Rail Passengers said the entire system was strained to its limits on Friday. He said he was barely able to exit the Market-Frankford El 15th Street station because the streets were jammed.

"They were asked to do an impossible job," he said.

SEPTA managers had assumed that the victory parade would be held on the weekend, when the system is less strained, Mitchell said. He added: "What SEPTA decided to do was operate basically by the seat of their pants."

SEPTA officials had announced the day before the parade that they expected overcrowding, but now, Mitchell said, the agency may have to examine how effectively it publicizes problems.

So many passengers were pushing their way onto rail and subway platforms that rail officials had to scramble to manage the crowds, according to Maloney.

"People were packed right to the edge of the loading platform," he said. "We were absolutely panicked that somebody was going to fall and get hurt, or worse."